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Public Welfare Service "s \ 


ce Bulletin No. 4 


act 19 1948 (Fourth aa act 19 1948 
| 192 


Si }F ILLINULS 
| | SiVEHSITY QF iL 
UNIVERSITY GF ILLINUIS : | 


O O 


THE TELEPHONE 





Its History and Methods of Operation 


For Use of School Students, English and 
Current Topics Classes, and Debating Clubs 


Issued by 
ILLINOIS COMMITTEE on PUBLIC UTILITY INFORMATION 
125 South Clark Street - - - Chicago, Illinois 


(Additional copies will be furnished on request.) 


Statistics Showing Remarkable Growth of the 
Telephone Industry in the United States 


Evolution of Communication: 


Telephone invented—1876 by Dr. Alexander 
Graham Bell, an American. 


Evolution of communication across the conti- 
nent: 


Clipper ship around Cape Horn. 
The prairie schooner. 

The overland mail coach. 

The railroad. 

The telegraph. 

The transcontinental telephone. 


In 1924: 


There were more than 57,000 separate tele- 
phone systems in the United States. 

There were more than 40,000,000 miles of wire 
in the United States—enough to reach to the 
moon more than 100 times. 

There were more than 15,000,000 telephones in 
use in the United States and about 900,000 are 
added each year. 

There were in excess of 20,000,000,000 conver- 
sations over the lines in 1924, or an average of 
185 completed calls for every man, woman and 
child in the country. 

The industry gave employment to 325,000 per- 
sons, who with their families dependent upon 
their earnings for support, aggregated over 
1,000,000 persons. 

In 1902 there were 221,000 telephones in IIli- 
nois; one to each 24 of inhabitants. In 1924 there 
were more than 5 times that number, or approx- 
imately one to each 5 men, women and children. 
The first telephone company in Illinois was not 
incorporated until 1881. 


Small Cost of the Telephone: 


The fact that through efficiency, economy and 
capable management it has been possible to give 


the public telephone service at a very small cost 
has been the greatest factor in bringing about 
universal use of the telephone. Like other utility 
services, the cost has been so low as to bring it 
within reach of the pocketbook of the most mod- 
est income, and this has resulted in the tremen- 
dous development of the service to the public. 
The part of the average family’s income spent 
for the telephone is herewith shown as compared 
with other items of expenditure: 








Per Per 

Cent of Cent of 

Family Family 

Item Income Item Income 
Food — —_ 268 STREET CAR. 29 
Rent, fuel 229 GAS —Saaee 
Clothing —.____ 15.3 TELEPHONE. 08 
Insurance __._. 4.4 ‘*Miscellaneous — 25.3 


ELECTRICITY 0.7 Total ______100% 


*Miscellaneous includes vacation, entertainment, gifts 
and savings. 


How Companies Spend Revenues: 


It costs great sums of money to give the 
United States its wonderful telephone service. 
The employees must be paid good wages, and 
tremendous amounts go for wire, cable, instru- 
ments, switchboards and countless other articles, 
as well as for buildings. Unless investors pur- 
chase securities and provide an unbroken flow of 
money into the industry, development would 
cease. 


An average dollar received from a subscriber | 


for telephone service is spent about as follows: 
Wages, 49.7 cents; materials and supplies, 16.9 
cents; dividends to stockholders, 9.6 cents; inter- 
est on bonds and other borrowed money, 7.1 
cents ; taxes, 6.1 cents; surplus to meet emergen- 
cies such as destruction of equipment by storm or 
fire, 4 cents; advertising, insurance, accidents, 
power, etc., 2.8 cents; printing, 1.6 cents; main- 
tenance of public stations, 1.2 cents; rent, 1 cent 


} 
A 


How Inventive Genius has Improved the Telephone 





THE TELEPHONE 


Introductory : 


When you use your telephone and casually dis- 
cuss matters great or small with some unseen 
person perhaps only a few doors away from you— 
perhaps a hundred or even a thousand miles 
away—you naturally give little thought to the un- 
seen forces, the wondrous invention, the years of 
painstaking development, or the great organiza- 
tions of people, material and minds that have 
made this act of yours possible. 

Telephoning has become such an every-day or 
even every-hour occurrence in the modern rush 
oi our daily lives that it has become as ordinary 
and natural a thing for us to do as sitting down 
to our dinners, or glancing through our daily 
newspaper. 


Development of This Magic 


Method of Communication: 


Yet, behind this simple little act of calling by 
telephone and holding converse with some dis- 
tant person, there is the story of a marvel so 
great as almost to put to shame the wonder of 
Aladdin’s Lamp or the entrancing tales of the 
Arabian Nights. 

Beginning less than 50 years ago, the record 
and the development of the telephone has been so 
wonderful, so vital in the affairs of man, that it 
has actually changed the course of human history 
and has played no small part in the civilization of 
mankind. 

It is one of the wonders of the modern world, 
and no less wonderful simply because it has, by 
the rapidity of its development, become seem- 
ingly so commonplace. 

Throughout the ages the advancement oi civil- 
ization has been vitally dependent upon progress 
in four great human needs; transportation, pow- 
er, heat and communication, the four of almost 
equal value in the affairs of the world. In the 
field of communication, the telephone represents 
one of the great strides forward in human his- 


tory. 


Methods of Communication 


of the Ancients : 


A study of the advancement of the art of com- 
munication throughout history is interesting. 
Prehistoric man, so far as we know, depended 
solely upon “word of mouth,” delivered person- 
ally or perhaps by messenger. So did even the 
more civilized ancients of Egypt, Babylonia, 
Assyria and other great empires of the dawn of 
civilization, until, as knowledge increased, mes- 
sages were scratched in rude hieroglyphics upon 
wax or even clay tablets; later, upon papyrus and 
then upon parchment; but delivery was always 
dependent upon the hands of a messenger. 

In the Middle Ages the art of writing was de- 
veloped; later, Guttenberg invented printing, but 


it is significant of the extraordinary progress of 
our own times, that, through all the centuries of 
the known history of the world, it was not until 
during the last century that mankind discovered 
a dependable way of really rapid communication 
between distant points. 


The ancient Aztecs and perhaps other races 
had their rude heliographs; the American Indian 
used his smoke signal; the African savage his 
tom-tom code; but all such methods were simply 
make-shifts, for emergencies, and not available 
for individual communication. 

The celebrated “Pony Express” and other pos- 
tal systems of the olden days here and in other 
countries were slow, limited to the speed of a 
horse or dependent upon wind, tide and wave. 
No instantaneous or rapid system of wide-spread 
communication was discovered, through all his- 
tory, until less than 100 years ago. 


The Telegraph and Telephone: 


In 1752 Benjamin Franklin flew his famous 
kite and captured a spark of lightning, but it was 
not until 1838 that Professor Morse demon- 
strated the availability of electrical energy for 
the communication of thought, by the inventio 
of the electric telegraph. 


This was the first great step toward instanta- 
neous universal communication; but even the 
telegraph, wonderful as it was and is, and filling, 
as it does, its own place in the modern system of 
rapid communication between distant points, was 
not and is not a system of personal, individual — 
communication, by which one man may actually 
speak to or listen to another, over intervening 
space great or small. 


S 


Then, in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell invented i“ 


the electric telephone. Every school boy has 
heard the story of this wonderful discovery—for 
it was as much the discovery of a principle in the 
combination of electricity, sound waves and 
acoustics as an invention—and has heard how, 
after years of exasperating, disheartening experi- 
ments the then young professor of a “School of 
Vocal Physiology” finally evolved a curious ma- 
chine that one day in March, 1876, repeated over 
the wire the words: “Mr. Watson, come here; I 
want you,” and the telephone was a reality. 


The Story of Alexander Bell: 


The story of the electric telephone reads like a 
romance and is replete with curious and astonish- 
ing happenings. ‘ 

Enthusiastically continuing work upon his ma- 
chine, the young inventor, with the help of his 
loyal assistant, Thomas A. Watson, produced a 
telephone for exhibition at the Philadelphia Cen- 
tennial. Even then, excepting for the provi- 


dential appearance of the Emperor of Brazil, who i 








happened to take interest in it, the great inven- 
tion would probably have passed back into ob- 

scurity. Through Dom Pedro’s influence, scien- 
tific men took notice of the Bell telephone, and it 
was awarded a “Certificate of Merit.” 

Even after that, however, for some time it was 
looked upon as an impractical, scientific toy, and 
only after Bell and his associates had passed 
through many trials was the true value of the 
telephone recognized. 


The First Telephone System: 


The first practical long-distance demonstration 
‘of the telephone as a device for transmitting 
sound was made by Bell and his associates in 
1876, when a telegraph line between New York 
-and Boston was borrowed for half an hour, and 
in the presence of noted men, a tune was sent 
over the wire by telephone. 

The first sustained conversation over the tele- 
phone was held in October, 1876, between Boston 
,and Cambridge, when a telegraph line, with a 
‘telephone attached to each end, was used for the 

purpose for three hours. 

It was not until May, 1877, however, that any 
\man had the temerity to actually pay for the use 
of a telephone, and then a man in a Massachu- 
setts town leased two telephones for twenty dol- 
lars—the first money ever paid for a telephone. 

The first telephone exchanges were gradually 
opened, naturally on a very small scale, in New 
‘Haven and Bridgeport, Conn.; New York City 
and Philadelphia. 


Millions of Telephones Now: 


So great, however, was the universal need for 
just such a method of communication, that in 
less than 50 years of its life there were more than 
15,000,000 telephones in use in the United States. 
How the number of telephones in the United 
States compares with those of other countries— 
indicating the tremendous development of Amer- 
ican communication methods—is illustrated by 
Chart I: 

There are now more telephones in Illinois 
than are to be found on the continents of Asia, 


THE WORLD'S TELEPHONES 


GERMANY 2 


rue OTHER 
UROPEAN ——~» 
COUNTRIES 


UNITED STATES 
~ 63% 


ALL OTHER _-” 
COUNTRIES 
19 





CHART I 


With only one-sixteenth of the world’s 
population, the United States has two- 
thirds of the world’s telephones. 


Africa and South America, with Australia thrown 
in for good measure. Chicago, alone, can account 
for more telephones than can France, Italy and 
Greece combined. 


Although there are more than 600 telephone 
companies in Illinois, they are all so inter-con- 
nected that any person, whether he lives on a 
farm or in the heart of a big city, has available 
instant communication with the outside world. 
This is not limited to Illinois but includes all of 
the North American continent. 

These companies are owned by more than 80,- 
000 securities holders, most of whom are resi- 
dents of the communities where the companies 
give service. 


Magnitude of Industry Amazing : 


The magnitude of the telephone industry is 
amazing. 

There are 37 miles of telephone wire for each 
100 persons in the United States. This is only one 
item. 

Each person in the United States makes, on an 
average, 185 telephone calls each year. 

More than 2,500,000 farms have telephone 
service. 

In 1900 there was one telephone to each 90 per- 
sons ; in 1905, one to each 25; in 1910, one to 16; 
in 1915, one to 11; in 1921, one to 8, and i in 1924, 
almost one to 7. 

The following two charts illustrate the devel- 
opment of America’s telephone facilities as com- 
pared with those of other countries: 


TELEPHONE DEVELOPMENT 
IN UNITED STATES AND EUROPE 


re 

Aart se mes MPAA 
PLETE A 
EET 
UT LTA Paola LHL 
eal gnu anne 





TELEPHONES PER 100 POPULATION 


TELEPHONES PER 100 POPULATION 


TELEPHONE CONVERSATIONS PER CAPITA 
— Year 1923 — 


QO 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 10.120 120, OU Ne aa 
UNITED STATES 
LS a OTR TE ET 
DENMARK 
NORWAY 
SWEDEN 
} AUSTRIA om 
| NETHERLANDSBES 
AUSTRALIA 
| HUNGARY 
| SWITZERLAND BS 
| GERMANY 
JAPAN 
| FRANCE 
| GREAT BRITAIN ORR 
| BELGIUM 
|} CZECHOSLOVAKIA 
ITALY 
RUSSIA : | 
© 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 
Telephone conversations per capita 











W hat Good Communication Means: 


What good telephone communication means to 
the nation is best illustrated by several historic 
events of days before the telephone existed. 


On Jan. 8, 1815, the battle of New Orleans was 
fought. The nation was at peace—the treaty had 
been signed—but our troops did not know it. 
Peace had been made two weeks before, on Dec. 
24, 1814, but General Jackson did not get word 
until some time aiter the engagement, with heavy 
loss of life, had taken place. 


On Feb. 24, 1836, Col. William B. Travis, with 
185 of his men, were besieged in the Alamo at 
San Antonio, Texas, by a Mexican force of 1,000 
under Santa Ana. A volunteer on horseback 
carried to the nearest post a call for help in 
which Travis wrote: “I shall never surrender 
or retreat. I call upon you in the name of lib- 
erty, of patriotism, of everything dear to Amer- 
ican character, to come to our aid with all dis- 
patch.” On April 6, the Alamo fell, its gallant 
defenders dying fighting. Had they been able 
to obtain quick communication with the outside 
world they would have been saved. 


The historic address of Abraham Lincoln on 
March 4, 1861 was carried at record-breaking 
speed—7 days and 14 hours—by pony express 
from St. Joseph, Mo., to Sacramento, Cal., a dis- 
tance of 1,400 miles, which today can be “on the 
wire” in a few seconds. 


On June 19, 1812, President James Madison is- 
sued a proclamation of war with Great Britian. 
The only means of communication with the coun- 
try was by stage coach and post-rider, it taking 
several weeks to send the message from England 
to the South. In contrast with the present day 
unity of interest of the nation, the historian, Mc- 
Master, then wrote: “No one who understands 
the history of these interesting times can fail to 
be struck by the utter lack of anything approach- 
ing national feeling. Slowly but surely the sec- 
tions were developing local interests and draw- 
ing farther and farther apart.” With telephone 
communication, however, came possible unity of 
thought and action. 

Every day there are modern illustrations of 
the great change, locally and nationally, that has 
been wrought by the great communication sys- 
tem American genius and perseverance has cre- 
ated. 


What Makes the Telephone Talk? 


“What makes the telephone talk?” is a ques- 
tion frequently asked. Well, of course, the tele- 
phone doesn’t talk at all—nor does it even actu- 
aly carry sound along the wires. 

The transmitting telephone (Fig. A) at one end 
of the line simply takes the sound and converts 
it into certain electrical manifestations that are 
carried along the wire to the receiving telephone 
(Fig. B), which converts them back into sound 
again. (See Fig. C.) 


How It Transmits Sound: 


Sounds of all kinds, including the human 
voice, consist of vibrations or sound waves (Fig. 
C-1). When you speak into 
the transmitter of a telephone 
the sound waves of your voice 
cause a thin metal diaphragm 
(Fig. A-1, Fig. C-2) to vibrate, 
each different sound causing 
different kinds of vibrations. 
Close against this diaphragm 
are small carbon granules (Fig. 
A-2, Fig. C-3) through which there is passing an 
electrical circuit. The vibrations of the diaphragm 
cause the amount of electrical current passing 
through the carbon granules to vary, each vibra- 
tion of the voice sending an electrical impulse 
along the wires (Fig. C-4) to the telephone re- 
ceiver (Fig. B). 





In the telephone receiver the wires (Fig. C-4) 
are wound in coils (Fig. B-2) around a magnet 
(Fig. C-5) and as the 
electrical current in 
the coils varies the 
strength of the mag- 
net varies. This mag- 
net is close to an iron 
diaphragm (Fig. B-1, 
Fig C-6) and as the 
magnet’s strength var- 
ries, its pull on this diaphragm varies, causing the 
diaphragm to vibrate, and to set up sound waves 
(Fig. C-7) which are heard in the ear of the 
person who is listening to you talk. 

Thus, you see that the sound of your voice is 
transformed into thousands of electrical impulses 
(or variations in strength of electrical current), 
and these electrical impulses are, in turn, changed 





Fig. B. 


How You “Talk” Through the Telephone 





FIG. A. MODERN TRANSMITTER. I—dt. 
sphragm, 3—cerbon granules, 3—electric contacts. 

FIG. B. MODERN RECEIVER. I1—disphragm, 
3—coils. 

FIG. C. A SIMPLE TELEPHONE CIRCUIT. 1— 
sound waves of speech, 3—metal diaphragm, 3— 
carbon granules, 4—wires, 5—maegnet, 6—iron dl- 
aphragm, 7—sound waves which ere heard. 








into sound waves which are heard by the person 
to whom you are talking. 


Only a very weak electrical current is used on 
a telephone line for talking, but a slightly 
stronger, though harmless, current is used for 
ringing the telephone bells. Neither current is 
strong enough to be dangerous—the talking cur- 
rent could not be felt, even if the telephone were 
not well insulated, as it is. 

From the above description it is evident that, 
if the numberless variations of sound which ac- 
company human speech are to be transmitted 
accurately by telephone, not only must the ap- 
paratus, but the line wires, or circuit, must be 
absolutely free from “grounds” or “leaks,” or 
other conditions which might interfere with its 
use. 


The fact that today the service is so uni- 
versally satisfactory as to transmission; that one 
can not only hear what is said but immediately 
recognize who is speaking by the quality of the 
voice; this really wonderful but commonplace re- 
sult is the best evidence of the extent to which 
the art of telephony has now been perfected and 
is applied in practice in the service of the public. 
A very slight defect will prevent successful trans- 
mission of speech, but of the millions of conver- 
sations attempted by telephone every day, the 
number so prevented is infinitesimally small. 


The Central Station or 
Telephone Exchange: 


The invention of the telephone instrument 
alone, or even the discovery of the principle of 
electrical telephony, would not have made the 
telephone exchange possible without the devel- 
opment, also, of some form of central station 
switch board, where any one telephone in the 
system could be connected with any other tele- 
phone in the system. 


Without this, no one could have ever had more 
than a “private line” with possibly 20 telephones 
on it, altogether, to which he could talk. 


The development of the telephone switchboard 
was a task by itself, but so well have the tele- 
phone engineers and designers performed their 
work during the past 40 years that the switch- 
board of today is a marvel of mechanical and 
electrical ingenuity, and of efficiency and depend- 
ability. 


W hat One Sees at the 
Central Office: 


There are three general types of telephone 
switching. 

The first, known as the “magneto” or “local 
battery” system, is about the only system prac- 
ticable for the small town or rural system. The 
batteries giving current for talking are contained 
in the telephone instrument, and the current for 
signaling the central station operator is gener- 
ated by turning a crank on the telephone, which 
operates a hand generator inside the instrument. 
This is the simplest system of telephony, and the 


most practical, efficient and dependable for the 
smaller telephone exchange. The magneto sys- 
tem is commonly used for all rural telephone 
lines. 


The second system, the most generally used at 
the present time for large telephone exchanges, 
is known as the “common battery” type, current 
both for talking and ringing being furnished by 
batteries or generators in the central office. In 
this system the telephone user simply removes 
the receiver from its hook on the telephone, this 
action signaling the operator by lighting a small 
lamp on the switchboard, or by some similar 
method. . 


For large exchanges, such as are in the great 
cities, what is known as a “multiple” switch- 
board must be used. This is a switchboard so 
constructed that any operator at the board can 
make a connection between a patron calling and 
any other telephone connected with the board. 
This is arranged by repeating or “multipling” 
within reach of each operator along the switch- 
board, the connecting “jacks” or terminals for 
every telephone. It is a very complicated and 
expensive system to install, costing sometimes 
four to five times the price of the switchboard 
without the multiple feature, per line connected. 


In very large cities the telephone company will 
operate a number of telephone central offices, 
each of which will be designated by a certain 
name or “prefix,” such as “Main,” “Superior,” 
and so on. Subscribers connected to one central 
office must be “trunked” over to the other central 
amie when they call for a subscriber connected 
there. 


The “Automatic” or “Machine 
Switching System: 


In a number of places there is coming into use 
the “machine switching” or “automatic” system 
of telephony, in which the switching between 
telephones is done by automatic machinery, in- 
stead of manually (physically) by telephone op- 
erators. Another system, combining certain fea- 
tures of both automatic and manual telephone 
exchanges, known as the “semi-automatic” type 
of exchange, is in use in some places. 

In any manual telephone system the cost, or 
investment, in the central office apparatus is very 
high, in many cases amounting to as much as an 
average of $250 for each telephone in service at 
the exchange. It is, of course, higher with the 
mechanical system. 


The central station apparatus also requires 
constant watching and repair, as it is very in- 
tricate and complicated, having literally thou- 
sands and thousands of wires connected together, 
with innumerable electrical contacts which must 
constantly be kept in fine adjustment. Such in- 
tricate apparatus is naturally subject to difficul- 
ties from any extreme heat, cold, moisture, etc., 
and expert switchboard men constantly must 
watch and work upon it to keep it in shape for 
giving efficient telephone service. 


The Outside Plant: 


Besides the expensive, intricate and delicately 
adjusted central station equipment, with the 
operators constantly on duty, the whole of the 
24 hours, to give service to the public; and be- 
sides the telephone instruments in the homes or 
business places of the subscribers; the telephone 
company must have and maintain an adequate 
system of poles, wires, cables, and so on, on or 
under the streets of the city, by means of which 
it can reach its subscribers to connect their tele- 
phones with the central office switchboard. 

The telephone exchange is peculiar in itself, 
and differs from its electrical cousin, the electric 
light and power plant, and from such other util- 
ity companies as the gas and water supplying 
concerns, in this way: 

The electric light company can supply any 
number of subscribers with current for electric 
lighting or power, from one pair of wires, or cir- 
cuit, and the water and gas companies can supply 
their own commodities to any number of cus- 
tomers from the same “mains.” But the tele- 
phone company must furnish a separate line or 
circuit for each subscriber—excepting, of course, 
those on “party lines,” for which service the rate 
is cheaper. This necessitates a correspondingly 
high investment per subscriber, in the telephone 
exchange. 


How Wires and Cables Are 
Laid or Strung: 


The wires from the telephone central office to 
the various subscribers’ telephones usually leave 
the central office in cables, either in the air or un- 
derground. From the office they may be carried 
considerable distance underground, or in aerial 
cables, depending upon the size of the city and 
of the exchange, and the class of construction. 

The wires, when in the cables, are hardly big- 
ger than a large thread, and are made of copper. 
Each wire is wrapped around with perfectly dry 
paper, this paper and such small amount of dry 
air as is included in the cable when it is covered, 
insulating the wires from each other. 

The covering of the cable is a sheath of lead, 
mixed with a little tin or other alloy to give it 
tensile strength. 

Such cables will contain from 50 up to 2,400 
or more wires, and are therefore known as “25 
pair,” “1,200 pair” cables, and so on. 

The cable sheaths must be kept water tight. 
Should even a drop of water get into the cables 
it will destroy the insulation, and “cross talk” 
will result in the telephones served by the wetted 
wires, or else the telephone will be “dead” alto- 
gether. 

Sometimes constant swaying of aerial cables, 
or rubbing against a limb or other surface, causes 
the sheath to crystalize; then tiny cracks or holes 
appear and a hard, driving rain wets the wires in- 
side and causes telephone “trouble.” 

That part of the cable must then be “boiled 
out” in paraffin, which extracts all moisture, and 


a new section of lead sheath, or a water tight 
patch, must be put on. 


Wiring System Very Delicate: 


Underground cables are laid in conduits, which 
are pipes made of baked clay or other material, 
with a varying number of “ducts,” laid in 
trenches dug under the streets, and then covered. 


The conduit ducts end in “manholes” at appro- 
priate intervals; the manholes are sufficiently 
large for workmen to enter them and stand 
erect; they can be identified on the streets by the 
round, iron covers lying flush with the surface of 
the street. The cables are drawn into the ducts, 
from the manholes, after the conduits are laid. 


Sooner or later, though, the wires must be 
brought out of the cables and be carried along 
the poles, to be distributed to the different tele- 
phones. The cables end in “terminals” located in 
a round metal can or a wooden box with a door, 
which is placed on the pole, the underground 
cable being brought up the pole to the terminal. 


The Terminals ° 


In these terminals larger iron or copper wires 
are connected with the pairs from the cables, and 
these wires run along the poles for such distance 
as is necessary, to the pole nearest the house 
where the telephone is located. 


Then a pair of wires, called the “drop wires,” is 
run from the pole to the house,and is terminated 
on the outside of the house, connecting there 
with a pair of “inside” wires which enter the 
house and are connected with the telephone. 


The kind and size of the poles used depends 
upon the class of construction and upon the 
number of wires or the size of the cables to be 
carried. White cedar poles, cut in the forests 
of Michigan or other northern states, are used 
in many city exchanges; others use cypress or 
other native timber, sometimes protected against 
decay by creosote or other preservative. The 
cross arms are often of Washington fir; the wood- 
en pins, upon which the glass insulators are 
screwed, of locust. 


Pole lines are guyed by heavy guy strand as 
protection against heavy winds, sleet, and so on. 
Similar strand is stretched from pole to pole 
when aerial cable is used, and the cable is hung 
from this “messenger” strand, which takes the 
strain off the soit lead sheath of the cable. 

Such, in brief—and very briefly—is the prin- 
cipal outside plant of the telephone exchange. 
Divided, as to cost, by the number of telephones 
it serves, the outside construction may cost as 
high as an average of $100 to $200 for each tele- 
phone in the exchange, depending upon the size 
of the town, the character of the construction, 
and so on. 

The world’s largest plant for manufacturing 
telephones, switch-boards, cable, and other tele- 
phone equipment is in. Illinois—in a suburb of 
Chicago. Materials from the whole world—fro 









coal to platinum—are used in this factory where 
more than 30,000 persons are employed and from 
where telephone equipment is shipped to places 
wherever telephones are used. 


The Management of the 


Telephone Company: 


The management of the telephone company 
has a triple responsibility; to the public, to fur- 
nish good, dependable telephone service; to the 
employees, to pay them adequately for their serv- 
ice and to deal with them justly; to the investors 
who furnish the money to build the lines and 
give the public service, to produce for them a 
reasonable and fair payment in the shape of in- 
terest on their investment. 

The rates the telephone company may charge 
for its service are under the regulation of public 
authority. 


How Management Is Divided: 


The management of the business naturally 
divides itself into three distinct operating heads: 

Commercial, which refers to the making of con- 
tract with patrons, billing and collecting of the 
service accounts, advertising, soliciting, and in 
general the “business end” of the business. 


MVNA 


Plant, which refers to the construction and up- 
keep of the property. 

Traffic, which refers to the employment, train- 
ing and supervision oi the operators and oper- 
ating forces. 

Besides these, there will usually be an Audit- 
ing Department, keeping the company’s books. 
If the company has an annual income of as much 
as $50,000 it is required to make a sworn state- 
ment of its business to the Interstate Commerce 
Commission. In Illinois all companies—both 
large and small—must make annual reports to 
the Illinois Commerce Commission and keep 
their books as that body orders. Most states 
have similar requirements. 

* * * * * 


The foregoing narrative is, naturally, much 
condensed; many interesting facts about the 
business have been omitted for lack of space. 
The subject of long distance telephone lines—a 
business in itseli—is not presented here because 
limits of space make it impossible to cover it 
properly. 

The telephone business is a big business, 
growing larger all the time; one of fascinating 
interest to the layman, well worthy of study by 
those interested in timely topics, and in the de- 
velopment of the great public utility institu- 
tions of the country today. 


How to Use the Telephone 


When making a call— 


1. Always look in the directory for the correct 
number. 

2. Take the receiver off the hook and give 
your number to the operator. If the oper- 
ator repeats the number correctly, acknowl- 
edge it by saying, “Right.” 

3. Talk slowing and carefully, speaking di- 
rectly into the transmitter, with your lips 
about one-half inch from the mouth-piece. 

4. Remain at the telephone until your party 
answers, or until the operator reports to 
you. 

5. When your party answers, announce your 
name. 

6. When you have finished your conversation, 
say, “Goodbye,” or, “Thank you.” 

7. To make long distance or out-of-town calls 
ask the operator for “Long Distance.” 


When receiving a call— 


1. Answer your telephone promptly and pleas- 
antly. 


2. Don’t say, “Hello.” When you have taken 
the receiver off of the hook state your name. 


3. If the person wanted is not in, take the 
name and number of the party calling. 
Have paper and pencil handy to the tel- 
ephone. 


4. Give the person calling your uninterrupted 
attention. 


5. Be as courteous “voice to voice” as you 
would be “face to face.” 


To re-call the operator when either making or 
receiving a call, move the hook up and down 
SLOWLY. If you move it rapidly the operator 
does not see your signal. 


How to Use This Bulletin: 


Rhetoric, Oral English, and Current Topic 


classes; Suggested topics for theme writing; 
Oral English and Current Topics discussion. 
1. A Visit to the Local Telephone Plant. 


2. To What Class of Users is the Telephone 
Most Valuable. 


Methods of Communication of The Ancients. 
How the Telephone Came Into Existence. 
The Home Without the Telephone. 


6. The Story A Telephone Told. 

7. A Four Minute Review of This Bulletin. 

8. What Kind of a Place Would This Com- 
munity Be Without the Public Utilities. 

For Debate: 

Resolved: That Alexander Graham Bell was 
a Greater Benefactor to the Human Race 
than was any Other Inventor. 

Resolved: That the Telephone is the greatest 
of modern-day conveniences. 


